Memorable, crazy movie

A lot of fun.

In truth, there is barely enough story here to make a film.

There are moments in this movie where the great movie it could've been peek out... They're fleeting, here, but they're worth savoring, and they happen often enough to make it worth your while.

The reviews here are splendid, articulate, fair and respectful. I simply wanted to add how, at the close of the film, clever the screenwriter broadened the flashbacks to the young Kagan and the young Sweeney. We know there's a shower encounter that causes Kagan to be outed as gay but we are made curious by how Sweeney is involved and how the film shows more and more details about Sweeney as if his own memory is allowing the truth to become conscious. I thought it especially heart- wrenching when we see the young Kagan and young Sweeney playing a duet at Kagan's grand piano in his elegant home. I had not heard of this film and was merely browsing YouTube. I chose it from its title without noting it was a full movie. I could not stop watching.

I was simply blown away by this film, it far exceeded any expectations I had. The script, music, cast and direction and cinematography meld brilliantly and keep the suspense propelled throughout."Handsome" Harry (Jamie Sheridan), on the surface a successful electrical company owner, is pulled into his past when he gets a call from his old navy buddy (Steve Buscemi), who is dying, asking for help in putting to rest a dreadful incident in their shared past in which a horrific beating of another navy buddy takes place. The buddy wants him to make amends to their victim. Thirty years later.The plot is propelled forward by Harry's road journey, meeting all the participants in that dreadful, shameful night.The only flaw I found in the film was in Harry taking over a professor's class and punching the professor for denying their former friendship. It seemed oddly out of character and jarred me out of the film for a few minutes as I mentally rewrote it.The denouement when it comes is heartbreaking.Beautifully cast, and particularly riveting performances from Mr. Snider and Mr. Scott.8 out of 10. I would watch again.

On to the movie, it was pretty entertaining as far as indie films go. Jamie Sheridan played a complex, tortured and in the end, cowardly role. The destruction of his own life and other women around him is very sad indeed and art mirrors life. Not the happiest film certainly not a four star but certainly worth renting if you like something different than buildings getting blown up and cameras that spin. The tender scenes both gay and straight are done realistically and leave little to the imagination where sex is involved. I like Jamie as an actor and I was surprised that he took to this role and even more surprising was seeing his name as one of the producers. Good for you, Jamie. Handsome indeed.

This film sets off with a pensive mood, as the leading character, repair shop-owner Harry is being teased and a waitress invites him to have more intimate contact with her. Harry seems an earnest man, reflective, he is wanting to do the honest thing. So it seems. He refuses the offer to sleep with the wife of his friend, a Navy sailor, who uses tablets to enhance his love-life. Harry is really a gentleman that is conforming to the southern old style, a beau for the belles. But as he is thrown out and the wife of his former friend accompanies him, as she is leaving her man, they consume their relationship more intimately. But as the movie progresses the story turns into something totally different. Be forewarned, this is not a thriller but a movie about Harry's betrayal of his male lover. The hinting is carefully done, but after an hour the director goes wild on his narrative organ, throws his registers wide open and the film becomes a whimpering tragedy about masculine love. It all fell into places then, the predilection for men in uniform, the warm mates. And then comes the revelation about the crime, which is not a crime, but more of a Dionysian frenzy evoked by a lover who wishes to destroy his lover to avoid his own detection. So this is the story about a sacrifice. And in order not to shame his family, and not undermine his vocation in the direction of priesthood, Harry incites his comrades and bashes the hand of his lover, maiming him and ending thereby his career. The victim remains fascinated by his lover, he keeps tracing him throughout his life and career. If this is not Identity-stalking for you, what is? And there is one other peculiar storyline which of course is typical for the gay community: gay becomes priest to avoid being outed. Harry wanted to be a priest. He tells a friend that he did not become a priest because the chaplain on the ship kept combing his hair when he told him about his vocation and longing for the Lord, the man did not turn around. So Harry submitted his cause, and the chaplain leaves because he had an appointment with higher quarters, no not Heaven, but the Navy-captain. This has put Harry off for good.. It is just another saddening fact in a totally confusing biography? So Harry decides, as he is no priest stuff as a Navy-sparky, he will drop the idea of becoming a priest. So much for his higher idealism. The name of the movie is Handsome Harry but it should be called Tiresome Harry.. This is a tired movie about tired people who confuse their lust and fascination for love. The title is misleading the public by positing itself as a thriller and being a story about guilt. Harry doesn't feel any real guilt, he is glad he has escaped detection by his mates. It is a sorry no-sorry movie which should be better labeled for viewers. A sad coming out, but not-coming out story, as Harry flees to where no one knows him. This movie will be appreciated by the gay community, but for viewers that go for crime and straight male-female relationship and romance it is a saddening waste of time. The depth is all fabrication and the tragedy is no real tragedy at all, but confusion of mind and a story of sheer cowardliness. I felt sorry for the waitress..